


Million Pieces

by Lothiriel84



Series: These words are all we have (We'll be talking) [4]
Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Aromantic, Aromantic Awareness Week, Established Relationship, F/M, Family, Father Figures, Gen, Queerplatonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22803799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lothiriel84/pseuds/Lothiriel84
Summary: Get fear and loathing out your mindAnd don't pull me, don't pull me down from the ceiling
Relationships: Arthur Shappey/Tiffy, Carolyn Knapp-Shappey/Herc Shipwright
Series: These words are all we have (We'll be talking) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1546090
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11
Collections: Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week 2020





	Million Pieces

They were supposed to be meeting at Arthur’s place – well, Carolyn and Herc’s, technically, but as Arthur once pointed out, it does save time, not having to explain that all over again – but the flight got delayed, even though it’s just a domestic one, so it shouldn’t be long now.

She’s still debating whether or not she should wait for him in the car when she hears the distinctive sound of Snoopadoop’s enthusiastic yaps, and someone tapping at the window on the passenger’s side. “You should be coming in,” Herc smiles once she winds the window down a bit. “I don’t bite, and I can safely promise Snoopadoop won’t either, provided you don’t let yourself get caught touching that blasted stuffed sheep of Carolyn’s.”

Arthur told her today’s Herc’s free day, as Douglas is _perfectly capable of flying the girl all by himself across the Irish Sea, thank you very much_ , and Carolyn isn’t the kind of woman who appreciates living in her husband’s pocket all the damn time. She’s only met him once or twice – if we’re not counting the wedding she attended as the best man’s plus one – and even then very briefly, but he seemed pleasant enough company, so she simply nods and gets out of the car.

“You know, Arthur’s really excited about moving out,” Herc tells her over a cup of tea, Snoopadoop now curled idly at her feet. “He hardly talks about anything else these days.”

She tenses, just briefly, makes a half-hearted attempt at hiding it by adding a spoonful of sugar to her cup. “Wouldn’t be Arthur if he weren’t,” she observes, somewhat cryptically; it’s not that she isn’t looking forward to it, of course she is, but she’s getting tired of people asking her if they really thought it through, what with her being – whatever the hell she is, and Arthur being, well, Arthur.

“I’m really glad he found you, though,” Herc goes on, the warmth in his voice nothing like what she was expecting, and she doesn’t quite choke on her tea, but he still rises from his chair, just in case she needs a pat on her back or something.

“That’s not – what most people I know tend to say,” she admits once her coughing fit has subsided, reaching down under the table cloth to pat a worried Snoopadoop on the head.

“Well,” Herc says, carefully, as if he knows exactly what she’s talking about. “People hardly ever remember they ought to be minding their own business, really, but that doesn’t mean we should allow them to put us down.”

She yields and helps Snoopadoop climb onto her lap, lets her nose happily into her sweater. Arthur told her about Herc and Carolyn, how their relationship never was a conventional one, even before their marriage. She wonders how it would feel like, to have a supportive family on your side, rather than one who’s perpetually on the lookout for new ways to tear down every single one of your life choices; but then again, she knows about Gordon as well, so it wasn’t always all roses within the formerly-Knapp-Shappey family, either.

“You may ask, you know,” Herc pushes her, gently, understanding smile firmly in place. “I promise you I won’t mind.”

That’d be terribly rude of her, she’s sure of that, but on the other hand, he’s offering of his own free volition, and heaven knows she’s desperate for confirmation of some kind.

“Do you ever regret it?” she ventures at length, hating herself for every second of it. “Settling for a surrogate of what you could have had, had you picked someone less – broken.”

God, how she wishes the floor would just open up and swallow her, right now. She never meant to imply that Carolyn might be somehow inadequate, of course she didn’t; she just doesn’t think she could bear it if one day Arthur would wake up and realise he wasted precious years of his life with her, when he could have chosen someone fully capable of reciprocating his feelings instead.

“None of that,” Herc says firmly, his hand reaching across the table to cover her trembling one. “I’ve been married four times before, remember? I can safely assure you, none of my ex-wives being romantically attracted to me made that much of a difference, in the end.”

He speaks with such confidence she can’t help but feeling reassured, if only a little. “Okay,” she nods, and she doesn’t think she quite manages a smile of her own, but he seems to appreciate it nevertheless. “Thank you.”

“Any time,” Herc smiles again, offering one final, encouraging hand squeeze for her trouble. “Now, if you promise not to tell Carolyn, we could tuck into her favourite scones, just for the occasion.”

She laughs, suddenly relieved, which is enough to prompt Snoopadoop to give a muffled yap and waggle her tail against her leg for good measure.

Arthur was quite right – flight delays can be unexpectedly brilliant on occasion. 


End file.
